The chance of future special dividends or sale of company.
There is a high probability that there will be more special dividends in the future, which will act as a catalyst to the stock price, plus the stock is trading well under its liquidation value of $2.18, and management is being urged to sell the company at a price above its liquidation value, and if that takes place the stock will be sold well above its present trading range. Either way, with future special dividends and a stock price possibly in the $2 range, or a buy out above $2.18 this is a good stock to hold, but remember, the operating word here is "possibly" not certainly. Investors would need to monitor how the company is doing, plus keep track of company announcements.
Shares Outstanding: 27.1 million
Cash equivalents $47.9 million + receivables & inventory minus liabilities = $59.2 million
$59.2 / 27.1million shares = $2.18/share
Involved investors with large holdings, such as Lloyd Miller III, have repeatedly pushed for shareholder-friendly actions. This can be clearly seen from various recent schedule 13D filings. In particular, Mr. Miller has pushed for a sale of the entire company or for more special dividends. The recent announcement of a $0.70/share dividend is the result of such effort. It's likely that the board of the company will arrive at more shareholder-friendly decisions down the road.
13D filing
As previously disclosed, Mr. Miller directs a number of urgent questions to the Board of Directors, based on his review of Emerson’s public filings and the Schedule 13D amendments filed by a subsidiary of Emerson’s controlling stockholder. In particular.
Mr. Miller has urged Emerson to return value to stockholders and appreciates the recent extraordinary dividend of $0.70 per share of common stock declared by the Board of Directors. Mr. Miller believes that the Board should return value to stockholders through cash dividends rather than maintain excessive cash balances, especially while control of the Company is in question.
Mr. Miller continues to believe that the Board of Directors of Emerson should pursue a sale of the Company. Mr. Miller believes that Emerson stockholders face continuing uncertainty as a result of the ongoing restructuring of Emerson’s controlling stockholder, The Grande Holdings Limited (Provisional Liquidators Appointed). Mr. Miller believes that the rights of minority stockholders continue to be compromised by uncertainties over the control block of shares held by Grande Holdings.
What protections are provided to Emerson public stockholders if Grande receives approval to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange? Mr. Miller believes that a sale of Emerson is in the best interests of Grande as well as Emerson, and would provide liquidity for Grande and its creditors during the restructuring. Mr. Miller believes that the obligations of Emerson as a U.S. public company can be best served by a sale of the company.
As a long-term investor, Mr. Miller believes that each member of the Board has a duty to minority public stockholders, including directors who have relationships with Grande Holdings. Emerson has a long history of related party transactions and accounting failures, as well as litigation and tax disputes that created risks to shareholder value, many of them related to Grande and its affiliates.
In view of prior lawsuits against Emerson insiders in conflict of interest transactions, Mr. Miller believes that further litigation might result if Grande remains in control of Emerson. Mr. Miller will continue to scrutinize all transactions that affect Emerson common stock and its trading value.
In the Schedule 13D and prior amendments, Mr. Miller has communicated with the Board of Directors of Emerson to urge them to enhance shareholder value, including through cash dividends and a sale of the Company to resolve uncertainties over the bankruptcy and restructuring of Grande Holdings, the Company’s controlling shareholder.
AI
